Bale is no Ronaldo, says Swansea boss Laudrup

The Dane, who faces a Tottenham side on Sunday that will be without the Real Madrid-bound Welshman, believes the 24-year-old is a level below the Portugal internationalMichael Laudrup believes "superstar" Gareth Bale is not yet as good as his prospective new team-mateCristiano Ronaldo.

The Tottenham winger is on the verge of sealing a world-record transfer to Real Madrid after the Liga giants tabled a bid worth around €100 million.

However, Swansea manager Laudrup, who played at the Santiago Bernabeu for two years in the 1990s, feels Bale, despite being amongst the best players in the world, is not yet in the same bracket as Ronaldo or Barcelona star Lionel Messi.

"You have to admit Gareth Bale was a superstar for Tottenham last season," said the Dane.

"Even when you have a good team it is always so nice that there is one player, like Bale, who you can give the ball to and he will do something great.

"When you see Real Madrid play they are very good players but at certain points they have Ronaldo, and Barcelona have Messi.

"Super teams but also they have that one player who makes a difference.

"For me, over the last four or five years those two have been at a level by themselves.

"Then you have 10 or 12 players just below that and Bale is definitely there with [Andres] Iniesta, [Sergio] Aguero and Robin van Persie.

"They are all great players, but you have to say Messi and Ronaldo are something special."